Vanessa has 21 coconuts for every 12 watermelons. Write the ratio of coconuts to watermelons as a simplified fraction.
Solution: Ratios can be written in a few different ways that mean the same thing. You can express a ratio with a colon separating the two numbers. $21:12$ You can write it out as a phrase like this. $21 \text{ to } 12$ Or, you can express a ratio as a fraction. $\dfrac{21}{12}=\dfrac{7}{4}$ Therefore, $\dfrac{7}{4}$ is the ratio of coconuts to watermelons written as a simplified fraction.